CaseBioscience Receives Up to $7.3 Million for Room-Temperature Cell Therapy Preservation
CaseBioscience is part of a Likarda-led team awarded up to $7.3 million by ARPA-H to develop technologies for preserving cell-based medicines at room temperature, aiming to eliminate cold chain requirements.
Fort Collins, Colorado – October 3, 2026 – CaseBioscience announced its participation in a multi-disciplinary team led by Likarda, which has been awarded up to $7.3 million by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) under the BioStabilization Systems (BoSS) program. This initiative aims to develop novel technologies for the manufacturing, storage, and transportation of cell-based medicines at room temperature, simplifying their handling and distribution.
The Reversible Ambient Biostabilization (RAB) team, led by Likarda, is one of only three selected for the BoSS program. It comprises specialists in biomaterial preservation, cell biology, bioengineering, and biomanufacturing. The collaboration seeks to reduce reliance on the complex and costly cold chain logistics that currently limit the accessibility of many cell-based therapies.
The project's initial phase, spanning 15 months, will focus on integrating specialized physiological mechanisms, novel cell protection strategies, and bioengineering approaches. The goal is to create methods for stabilizing therapeutic cells at ambient temperatures, thereby reducing distribution challenges and improving patient access to advanced therapies. CaseBioscience's extensive research in bio-preservation underpins its contribution to this project.
"The concept of preserving live cells in a dry state has been explored for over two decades, but significant scientific and engineering barriers have limited progress," stated Dr. John Baust, a leading biopreservation expert from CPSI Biotech. "ARPA-H's BoSS program presents an unprecedented opportunity to address this challenge from multiple scientific and engineering angles. If successful, this work could lead to a paradigm shift in how biological products are conserved, stored, and distributed."